Song Variations *LISTEN*

[maroongem]

It's interesting how songs get watered down or changed for various reasons such as unsuitable lyrics, especially when the song has become a "children's" song such as this one.

This first version is by Vernon Dalhart and is as it was sung by Harry "Mack" McClintock on Victor, who was credited authorship of the song but there seems to be some doubts of that.

DD 52472-L THE BIG ROCK CANDY MOUNTAINS by Vernon Dalhart rel. 2/29
www.box.net/shared/9p97nhhwk4

A little different version, more sanitized by the omission of whiskey & lakes of gin, but the cigarette trees still flourish!!!

Continental C- 8044-A BIG ROCK CANDY MOUNTAIN by Yodeling Slim Clark ca.1949
www.box.net/shared/t1jw29vs4g

And lastly, this is the version I remember growing up listening to my parents playing records in the evening.
Decca DL 5093 BALLADS & FOLKSONGS #3 Burl Ives rel.1949
www.box.net/shared/2ryj699wcs

Enjoy!

Bill

[rocky]

I can understand that a song's lyrics might get watered down for a kid's song. I'm sure that if Slim Clark's version were released as a kid's song today, the "cigarette trees" would be gone. However, in 1949 doctors were advising their patients to smoke cigarettes to calm their nerves.

In a similar vein, it's interesting to note that there may be a slight difference in wording between releases of the same song by two different record companies. For instance, Billy Murray's Victor rendition of "The little Ford rambled right along" contains the line, "and the darned old donkey kicked like a mule," while on his Edison rendition, it's "and the darned old jackass......"

I think Edison tended to be bolder than Victor. After all, Edison did release "Oh Helen," a stuttering song where Helen and damsel are shortened to "hell" and "d**n." Victor, on the other hand, did advertise the song, but chickened out at the last minute and replaced it with Billy Murray's "The alcoholic blues."

Rocky

[ultona]

...and with Edison being the uh, "prude", he has been characterized as you would have thought that Victor would have issued it and Edison nixed it! I'm still waiting for an auction list's results to show up in my mailbox to see if I won "Oh Helen" on DD....I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Sean

[rocky]

Sean, do you think that the "shocking" lyrics of this song might induce one to lead a life of moral degradation?

I hope you win the DD!

;D
Rocky

[maroongem]

Dug out my copy of OH HELEN! on BA. One of my favorite Arthur Fields cylinders and thought I'd share!

BA 3713 OH HELEN! by Arthur Fields take 3 Mold 3 rel. 5/19

www.box.net/shared/gww84rgw84

Direct from my Opera w/a Mod A reproducer.

Enjoy!

Bill

[ultona]

Thanks Bill! I'm listening now....sounds great!

Sean

[neophone]

Oh Bill,

I-I-I-I L-L-L-Like O-O-O-Oh H-H-H-H-Hel-Hel-Helen a l-l-l-l-ot! ;D

I'll take Dalhart's Big Rock... over the others. I do like Burl Ives, but his version of 'Big Rock Candy Mountain falls flat in my opinion. The Clark take is pretty good, never heard of him before. That's two interesting new singers in less than a week! thanks Bill! ;D

Regards,
J.

[maroongem]

Thanks, guys!!!
It really is amazing that the song eeked past the censors at that time!!!

Bill

[MordEth]

Bill: Excellent transfers! Especially the Vernon Dalhart version; I'll have to share that with a friend of mine who plays the banjo. The banjo recorded exceptionally well.

I was also amused at the longevity of the cigarette trees vs. the alcoholic landscape, apparently the ATF did better at stamping out alcohol and firearms than the tobacco.

[maroongem]

mordeth said:

Bill: Excellent transfers! Especially the Vernon Dalhart version; I'll have to share that with a friend of mine who plays the banjo. The banjo recorded exceptionally well.

I was also amused at the longevity of the cigarette trees vs. the alcoholic landscape, apparently the ATF did better at stamping out alcohol and firearms than the tobacco.

Thanks! As Rocky pointed out earlier, I'm sure the "cigarette trees" would be banished as well if recorded today. This was an electrically recorded record, which for an acoustic machine playing it back, does sound really crisp. Edison was unfortunately the Johnny-come-lately in electrical recordings, and coupled with other factors, surely resulted in the demise of the Edison Phonograph Division in Oct. of '29. I don't know who played banjo on this recording, Edison had several artists that were quite proficent on it but the person remains a mystery.

Bill

[lukewarmwater]

Check out the late John Hartford's excellent version on the DVD "Down From The Mountain". "DFTM" is a semi-documentary concert video of a concert at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville given by all the musical acts that provided the soundtrack for the Coen Brothers' film 'O Brother Where Art Thou?' The concert actually happened before 'OBWAT' was released.

'Mac' McClintock's Viva-Tonal version was remastered and used over the opening credits of the film, but since he wasn't alive to perform at the concert, Hartford interpreted it instead and it is truly, truly great. When Emmylou Harris steps on stage later in the film, she remarks to Hartford (who is standing at the side of the stage as he is also MC), that his 'Big Rock Candy Mountain' is "one of the best things I've ever heard in my life". He glibly replies, "Thank you . . . you're easily entertained."



There was also an infamous homosexual version collected by the Library of Congress in 1927. This version is probably closer to the origins of the song as sung by the 'Knights of the Road' (hobos) than the sanitized versions that made it to record.

Text below . . . R-rated:

The Big Rock Candy Mountain

On a very fine day in the month of May
A great big bum (big burly) came hiking
And he seated his pratt (himself) 'neath a big green tree
Which was very much to his liking.

On the very same day in the month of May
A farmer's lad came hiking.
Said the bum to the son, "If you will come,
I'll show you some sights to your liking.

"I'll show you the bees in the cigarette trees,
The big rock candy mountains,
The chocolate heights where they give away kites
And the sody-water fountains.

"The lemonade springs where the bluebird sings,
The marbles made of crystal.
We'll join the band of Dangerous Dan
Who carries a sword and a pistol."

So the bum set out with the lad at his back.
For six long months they travelled,
Then the boy came back on the very same track
And this (sad) tale (he) unravelled.

"There are no bees in the cigarette trees,
No big rock candy mountains,
No chocolate heights where they give away kites,
Or sody-water fountains.

"No lemonade springs where the bluebird sings,
No marble made of crystal.
There is no such man as Dangerous Dan
Who carries a sword and a pistol.

"He made me beg and steal his eggs (sit on his peg)
And he called me his jocker.
When I didn't get pies he blacked my eyes
And called me his apple-knocker.

"No more I'll roam from my very fine home.
I'll save my junkerino.
You can bet your lid that this old kid
Won't be no one else's punkerino."

note: A typescript copy of this is No. 377 in the Robert C. Gordon
Inferno in the Library of Congress, sent to Gordon by Wheaton
H. "Skin" Brewer of Lebanon, Oregon, in 1927 under the title of
"The Appleknocker's Lament." This version of "The Big Rock Candy
Mountain" is the only example seen of the fabled homosexual variant.

Luke W.

[lukewarmwater]

mordeth said:

Bill: Excellent transfers! Especially the Vernon Dalhart version; I'll have to share that with a friend of mine who plays the banjo. The banjo recorded exceptionally well.

Good example of the dichotomy in this early-country music style . . . the real breakthrough happened when actual rural performers were recorded. Dalhart approximated a rural musician, but was not genuine article . . . similarly, the banjo player accompanying him on 'Big Rock Candy Mountain' is playing a four-string tenor banjo with a pick -- a jazz instrument. E.V. Stoneman and Fiddlin' Cowan Powers are examples of the genuine article on Edison. Luke W.